"Art in The Show/Meet the Artists"
“Lighthouse Lights” Pottery
Grace Anker (Trieste, Italy) makes sculptures and functional ceramics. By taking daily life as subject matter while connecting on the everyday aesthetic of middle class values, Anker tries to develop forms that do not follow conventional criteria but are based only on subjective associations and formal parallels, which incite the viewer to make new personal associations.
Her collected, altered and owner sculptures are being confronted as aesthetically resilient, thematically interrelated material for memory and projection. The possible seems true and the truth exists, but it has many faces as Hanna Arendt cites from Franz Kafka. By choosing mainly formal solutions, she often creates work using creative game tactics, but these are never permissive. Play is a serious matter: during the game, different rules apply than in everyday life and even everyday objects undergo transubstantiation.
Her works are based on formal associations that open a unique poetic vein. Multilayered images arise in which the fragility and instability of our seemingly certain reality is questioned. By focusing on techniques and materials, she absorbs the tradition of remembrance art into daily practice. This personal follow-up and revival of a past tradition is important as an act of meditation.
Her works are characterized by the use of everyday objects in an atmosphere of middleclass mentality in which recognition plays an important role. By contesting the division between the realm of memory and the realm of experience, she considers making art a craft which is executed using clear formal rules and which should always refer to social reality.
Her works are notable for their perfect finish and tactile nature. This is of great importance and bears witness to great craftsmanship. Grace Anker currently lives and works in Queens. potterswheelny.com
“We're Going to the Zoo” Acrylic on Canvas
During this difficult and isolating time, I find peace and happiness in pursuing my hobby - making paintings and collages from sketches I have made or photographs I have taken. In the case of this work, I was waiting for a train and noticed all the wonderful details of the station - the trashcan, lampposts, signs, bridges and people. I took several photographs. Since the train passed the Bronx Zoo, I had the idea of adding animals on the platforms going to and from the zoo to a painting of the scene.
“Storm Sky in August” Ink and Watercolor on Paper
I am a longtime resident of Kew Gardens for twenty years and enjoy the neighborhood with my wife, three children and three cats. Favorite pastimes include volunteering with the Kew Gardens CSA or browsing Kew & Willow bookstore. If you enjoy my work you can find more, including a complimentary downloadable coloring book, at christopherdoodles.blogspot.com -- wishing my fellow neighbors peace, safety and security in these times. blostopher@gmail.com
“Vigilance” Photo
It has now been a year of the COVID lockdown, in which some of us have taken the long opportunity to be aware of the sights and sounds that in ordinary times, might escape us - the beauty of trees in all four seasons, the flowers, birds and their song, and the mighty, ruthless hunter and screechy Red-tailed Hawk.
My first sighting of the Red-tailed Hawk was many years ago, in another part of Queens, when it swooped down towards my closed living-room window, where my small sized cat was perched, and then it quickly flew up in a curve to the fire escape of the floor above. It stayed there, looking down at my window and the cat that was now tightly clutched in my arms. All I could focus on were those killer talons.
Upon reflection, I've softened my one negative feeling about these handsome hunting birds, after all, they do have to eat. Nature has provided them with the tools that they need to survive – keen eyesight, able to see colors, patience, speed, and the ability to focus on nothing else but their hunt, and intended prey.
Since moving to Kew Gardens, I have seen them, or the one recurring visitor, many times throughout the years. Sometimes in the falling snow, I have seen it perched all alone for hours, not moving at all from its position – perhaps waiting patiently for the chance to find some food.
On the day that I took this photo, the Red-tailed Hawk was absolutely in a hunting frame of mind. Perched on a limb, constantly looking down and around for a long time, with its bright eyes keenly in focus to catch anything moving on the ground. Finally, it saw something and swooped down.
I turned around from the window, and walked away...
“Machu Picchu” Photograph
I grew up in Queens, in Ozone Park, and I remember being so happy in the darkroom my father had in the basement of our home, a small space next to the furnace and the coal bin. I got my first camera in 1967, a Pentax Spotmatic, a mail order from Japan. After that I was never without the camera hanging from my neck. The rest is history. Lots of happy years behind the lens.
“Ballerina” Photograph
My passion in life has always been to travel. I've taken a boat down the Orinoco River in Venezuela and climbed Arches National park in Moab, Utah. I've met people from all over the world and experienced different cultures. One of my favorite places is Venice, where every windy street brings unexpected pleasures. Anthony Bourdain said the following: The journey changes you, it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you; hopefully you leave something good behind. That will always be what I strive for in my travels and in life.
“I Get So Lost” Photo Collage
Raised below the Mason Dixon line on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, Crystal Gauen has been a New Yorker for over 20 years. Crystal is an artist, a mom, a therapist, and a friend. She draws inspiration from nature, her kids, abstraction and old school techniques like weaving and sewing.
“The Voyage Between” Mixed Collage
Mixed media art provides the perfect canvas for me to combine my favorite creative processes: collage, painting, and using found objects. I spend a great deal of my time editing books from a home office, so my work life hasn’t changed much during our current challenges, but the inability to venture out at all had me dreaming of peaceful outdoor settings. I chose the framing device to suggest both a framed artwork and the idea of gazing out of a window at a scene far removed from apartment walls.
amyhandy123@gmail.com @amyfhandy
“Season of Change” Acrylic on Canvas
I enjoy painting beautiful scenes from nature, standing alone, usually without human or animal counterparts. The breathtaking scenery makes me feel tranquil and wondrous. It evokes a real understanding of the power of nature undisturbed. When I add human or animal life, they are always a very small part of the picture, in importance and in size, always respectful of the magnitude of their surroundings…a perfect world....
“Arbol Caido al Centro Kew Gardens” Photograph
Cuban author and interdisciplinary artist based in New York. Her work takes various forms including documentary photography, soundscape interpretation, multimedia installation and urban interventions. Jacqueline is interested in the processes of fictionalization of memory and in the production of autofiction. jacquelineherranz.com
“Cassie and Friends” Photograph
William Jackson is a visual artist and writer living in Kew Gardens, New York. His paintings, assemblages and photography have been shown in cities across the US. His doll photography and his writing on dolls were published by Haute Doll Magazine. His novel, "Free!" was published in 2010. He lives in Kew Gardens with his husband. For more information on the writing of William Jackson visit www.williamljackson.com for Write Out. For more information on the photography of William Jackson visit www.ningyoboyscloset.com.
“Water Under the Bridge” Oil on Canvas
Rebecca Kanfer is a professional artist who has worked on landscape based oil and watercolor paintings for over 15 years. Her recent works explore ideas related to temporality of the landscape and the healing connections humans can have to the natural world. Through use of sensitive color palettes and line-work, she seeks to evoke a sense of quiet, serenity, and ephemeral moments that provide a sense of peace and joy.
“Justin Townes Earle” Oil on Canvas
Ed Kaplan was born on Long Island in 1971, and currently resides in Queens, New York. He received his degree in Advertising Art and Design, but considers himself a self-taught painter. For the past 25 years he has designed and executed fine art paintings and commissions, as well as murals and custom airbrushed automobiles.
“Unisphere” Photograph
The camera is a kind of license that brings with it opportunity. It is the license to enter the neighborhood shoe store, to photograph the owners at work and then to walk around the store photographing the dust and rust on very old Singer sewing machines. It is the license to talk to and photograph a woman with her leather-jacketed pet iguanas resting on the brim of her hat and to freely stroll through the doors of a company that manufactures carousels, While listening to marvelous music, it is an opportunity to photograph the incredibly long expressive hands of the conga player and the famous pianist in the corner playing a song that he wrote decades ago.
My favorite part of photographing is the story telling. Sometimes the story is created with a group of photos and sometimes one photo can stand alone.
“The Rose” Photograph
Jeanette Longobardi is a local Kew Gardens resident whose photography focuses on nature and landscapes. She loves connecting with the locals and neighboring communities during Art Show season and enjoys how artwork brings everyone together.
For more information on Jeanette, type @Longobardiphotography in any web browser to find her website and Instagram page.
“Pauses”#1 Digital Art
During these times being outside is good for everyone. I created this artwork to bring the outside living back inside our homes for the time being. We have been indoors for way too long. While I will never be able to portray actual people, trees or birds, I do want my artwork to look like it once truly existed, that is, a living memory. These living moments reminds us to take one day at a time and helps us relive with nature those special outdoor memories and ultimately reconnect with mother nature.
“Sky Bridge” Oil on Canvas
Brad Marshall was born in New York City in 1955. At three, his family moved to Miami, Florida where he was raised and schooled. After completing his degree in Psychology at the University of Florida, he decided to try his hand at his first love, art. He moved to California to attend art school at the San Francisco Academy of Art. Between 1980 and 1987 he free-lanced as an illustrator for various advertisers and publications. Then in 1987, he found a job as a billboard artist i8n New York City, painting signs all over the City for the next dozen years.
In 2000, he left his job to pursue painting landscapes full time, something he had done in his spare time up until then. He was fortunate to have the Fischbach Gallery represent him.
His work is included in private and major corporate collections, including General Electric as well as in the collection of the Hudson River Museum
He has been featured in such publications as American Artist and the Gettysburg Review.
“ Adulthood( After Hilma af Klint ) ” Acrylic on Canvas
"Use of colors and textures” describe my work the best. I love using watercolor and collage with paper. I use paper with different textures, thickness and made of various materials. I work on watercolor paper. Sometimes I try to duplicate the patterns on the paper or use paper to add texture to my painting. I love the challenge of details, especially in rendering textures. With an illustration background, my work tends to be more narrative rather than abstract, though I am inspired by abstract paintings with organic shapes and texture. I recently discovered the work of Hilma af Klint, a Swedish abstract painter whose mystical paintings predate Kandinsky’s. She was ahead of her time with her vision and use of texture, paper and paint and subject matter, a true inspiration!”
Thanks, Neene
Neene N. Maruzzelli
m: 917.697.8474 e: neenemarz@gmail.com http://pnunez.com
“Mirror at Ca' Zanardi” Photocollage
Anthony Mavilia is Director of the Abingdon Square Painters, a cooperative artist’s studio begun in Greenwich Village in 1947 and now located in Long Island City, NY. He has studied and exhibited in Europe and the United States and organized an Artist Residency in Venice, Italy at the historic Palazzo Ca’Zanardi.
Anthony Mavilia is a painter, printmaker and photographer. He has most recently focused on creating photo composites; pieces he terms “erasures”. In this process two or more photos are layered, manipulated and “erased through” to create a wholly new image: a “mash-up” (and partial negation) of the realities captured by the camera and visual ideas suggested by these images. In all of these works the passage of time is suggested by texture – erosion, decay and transubstantiation – which in its turn references the human condition: the transience of life as well as the pressure and force of the human presence on all things around us. Anthony Mavilia’s work can be viewed at https://abingdonsquarepainters.com/portfolio/tony-mavilia/ and anthonymavilia.smugmug.com
Contact him at tonymav2001@gmail.com
“Bridle Path: Forest Park” Oil on Canvas
I am a Plein air artist. Whenever I choose a view in nature or a simple object to paint, I feel not only attracted, aesthetically, to the exquisite combination of lines, shapes, colors, etc., but also emotionally connected to some of my personal experiences in the past. Therefore, painting is in fact my intimate conversation with the outside world. To my mind, so is the action of viewing an artwork. I wish my art may remind you of some related moments in your life experiences and enable you to relive the sweet delightful feelings you had then, so as to tell yourself that the inconveniences caused by the pandemic are just temporary.
“Imagine” Acrylic on Canvas
I moved to Kew Gardens in 1992 where the view out of my window faces Forest Park. On many occasions the park has given me inspiration for a painting. I see something new and wonderful each time I sit on a bench or walk on a trail. My usual media is watercolor but lately I have taken to using gouache because the colors are so vibrant. I work in a hospital laboratory where it can seem hectic and stressful. Painting keeps me sane, especially in recent times where things can seem chaotic and uncertain. It centers me and brings me peace.
“Tuesday at the Gallery” Oil on Canvas
My name is Robert Murphy. I am usually called Bob, but you can call me Rob, Bob, or Robert. I have found it necessary to express myself through visual art, music or conversation my entire life. I studied with some fine painters in New York. This experience was priceless. I enjoy the work of Joaquin Sorolla, John Singer Sargent, Monet, Gaugin, Van Gogh and a more recent painter, Norman Rockwell. I read somewhere that Norman Rockwell used technical devices, such as cameras and projectors. I have had my own experiences painting a portrait in this particular way. I met a lovely woman in a shop and I thought I could work from her image and she agreed to my photographing her. I was able to capture some nice images on my phone. It was all very pleasant and she was indeed kind to permit me. I then began a journey that is ongoing. Struggling with heretofore adequate drawing skills, I decided that I would buy a prism device and that caused more problems. I felt a bit dishonest in my effort to take a short cut but so far I have not been successful. When I see the astounding immediacy of Rockwell's people, I have to tip the hat to him. I am greatly moved by Freud. He is so very different and I think as powerful as any painter can be when he describes his subjects. I have a cat named Lilly. Thank you.
“Feather” Photograph
It’s easy to say that I have been part of the Kew Gardens neighborhood for 15 years. As an immigrant, I am glad to find here a strong, welcome and sensitive community that always opens its arms to me. I don’t remember when I started to be a photographer but I am sure that here I have found a fountain of inspiration, creativity, fun and friendship. Thank you Kew Gardens for your big heart and for giving our families peace, hope and happiness. @margy29
“Isla” Digital Image
Reading comic books and watching cartoons while growing up in New York City inspired me to create art that channels the bright colors, outsized emotions and exaggerated movements found in those works. Whether I am drawing a sketch of a person’s face or painting an entire cityscape, I want to bring the same energy those books and cartoons did by using bold colors, high contrasts, and big emotions. I use digital tools to illustrate works that give me purpose and clarity. I have been drawing and painting since I have been able to do so, and I will continue to until I cannot. jorellrivera.com
“Day of the Dead” Photograph
Since retiring several years ago, I began acting on a long held desire and began to work in mixed-media, photography, to paint, draw, and write. I have been encouraged by many. Their stories have emboldened me to follow their path. I thank them all, especially my partner Lynne. Thank you, Tony Rodriguez
“Obscured Portrait #1” Lithograph
“I am greatly inspired by urban images such as graffiti, street
art, decaying paint, marred surfaces and natural urban decay. I see them as intriguing environments that work so well to house my figures and portraits. I love the contrast of the beautiful human
form in a somewhat abstract urban setting. The juxtaposition of the two - artistically as well as aesthetically - creates an emotionally charged work of art.”
carminesantaniello.com
“Empire State” Photograph
If you truly love Nature, you will find beauty everywhere (Vincent Van Gogh)
My passionate love of Nature and Art are inherently linked. I find inspiration and joy while painting landscapes. I am drawn to the unfinished, untouched, raw dramatic vistas of the Catskills. They are quiet, dark, majestic, peaceful and spiritual. The Catskills have miles of mostly untouched wilderness. There are patches of navy blue, emerald green dotted with yellow, red and bronze and silver. The energy of the color is vivid and the natural light brings a spiritual unmatched sense of beauty, grace and peace to all those who take a moment to look.
“Chicken and Papa” Mixed Media
Bestselling children’s author and illustrator David Ezra Stein was born in Brooklyn, NY.
David says, “I’ll never forget the experience of sitting in a beloved lap and having a whole world open before me: a world brought to life by the pictures and the grown-up’s voice. That wonder is what I want to re-create in my own books.”
David’s Interrupting Chicken was awarded a Caldecott Honor. Scholastic named it one of the top 100 books of all time for children.
He is the author/illustrator of 17 children’s books. The latest are Hush, Little Bunny, and Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise.
“Bonsai Creation” Photograph
I am a creative person at heart and have an absolute LOVE for Nature of any kind and through various forms of artistic expression. I create collected branch sculptures…aka the everlasting bouquets, in addition to other “reuse repurpose” forms. If it has a story it has a purpose. A former Creative Director in the beauty industry, I found that my passion was to create hands-on pieces. Thank you all for this opportunity to make our community much brighter during these trying times.
“After Audubon: Pine Creeping Warbler” Color Pencil on Paper
My name is Ayumi and I am from Japan. I have been living in Kew Gardens for 12 years and love my community. This winter, I started to draw birds from the book of John James Audubon's Birds of America. I always adore Audubon's watercolor. All of his art works in the book are masterpieces. This pencil drawing represents my wish for warmer weather and being outside as I was mostly still locked down at home. It gave me a moment of relief from Covid quarantine.
“Lady in Yellow” Oil on Canvas
Margaret Rose Vendryes is a black, queer, radical artist historian with an active studio practice in Southeast Queens, New York City. Born on the island of Jamaica and, with the exception of two years of high school in Jamaica, raised in Queens. She completed her Fine Arts BA at Amherst College, an MA in art history at Tulane University then continued on to Princeton University where she completed her doctorate in 1997. Vendryes has traveled extensively with visits to North, East, and Western Africa being among the most impactful for her art. She has collected African sculpture for over three decades. Vendryes is currently Professor of Art History, Chairperson of the Department of Performing and Fine Arts at York College, CUNY and Director of the York College Fine Arts Gallery. Her studio practice has expanded to include site-specific public works and interactive installations created to engage local populations in Southeast Queens. www.mrvendryes.com
“Contemplation” Photograph
Sweta and Anudit are 16 year Kew Gardens residents who still enjoy finding new beauty in our community every day. Sweta is a mindfulness and wellness coach, an international speaker, and a published author with award-winning books in prose as well as poetry. She loves helping people live their best life using holistic means. Anudit is a technologist by profession and a photographer by heart. His dream is to see the world the way a National Geographic photographer does. Together, Sweta and Anudit look at the world around us through Anudit’s lens and make sense of it using Sweta’s words. This piece is titled....Where do you put imagination?
“Colors” Collage
A Queens native, Adam has been working in the cut paper medium for over 30 years. "Papirshnit" is a traditional Eastern European Jewish art form used in home and synagogues. Adam's papercuts often have a modern twist and have been featured in magazines, children's books, and CD covers and booklets. When he is not making art he is an infrastructure advisor for international development programs.
“The Clearing” Charcoal on Paper
Born and raised in Maryland, Nathaniel Worden came to New York City to study Architecture. He fell in love with the city and has made it his home ever since. Before that, from an early age, Nathaniel discovered a love and talent for drawing. While at Architecture school, this talent was expanded and amplified under the tutelage of artist and educator Sue Ferguson Gussow. Through careful observation of the relationships among points in space, the humble one-dimensional line is used to build structure, and create forms, and define spaces. The immediacy, liveliness, and precision possible through the simplest and most fundamental of tools is what makes the discipline of drawing a continually fresh method of expression.
The quote from “The Underground Railroad” is about transformation and transcendence. This transformation is not a gift bestowed by some external force but rather the result of one’s own supreme act of will, a strenuous, willful effort. The clearing in a forest signifies an emergence from a period of trial, a moment of resolution, the end of one path and ascendance to another. One journey, one season ends, and another begins.
Gabis Abrego “Spaceship! Stars! ME!” Mixed Mediums
Max Ahmed “Helper” Color Pencil on paper
Aaron Panora “The Children’s Smile” Paint and crayon on paper
Emma Bravo “Rainbow Vase” Paint on Paper
Gemma Bonanno “Springtime Bloom” Paint on Paper
Finn Cushna “Two Faces” Watercolor on Paper
Sienna Nicole Chu “Butterfly! Butterfly!” Paint on Paper
Charlotte Frandy “Drawing” Crayon and Marker
Elizabeth Frandy “Drawing” Crayon and Marker on Paper
Allegra Horn “Peacock” Acrylic on Canvas
Clara Kaplan “Sunset” Acylic on Canvas
Stella Kaplan “City Scene” Mixed Mediums on Paper
Jordana Lo “Heroes” Drawing on Paper
Mackenzie Lee “I Love the Wind” Mixed Mediums
Izabel Maruzzeli “Manatees” Collage
Zuni Patel “Heroes and Dragons” Paint on Paper
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